Neglected
by this-is-an-error
Summary: Katara is taken prisoner by the fire nation on her eighth name day. After being bought by Zhao and rescued by Iroh, she ends up in the royal palace. Growing up with a whiny prince and a mad princess was something she never thought. Author's note: This zutara is the first fanfiction i've ever written in english so correct me if you feel the need to do it.
1. Chapter 1

Katara liked summer; she liked the clear sky and the bright sun because it meant she wouldn't need to use a coat to go outside her igloo to play with her friends and her brother Sokka. People also looked happier than usual during those warm days, even with a war going on, the warm season helped everyone in the tribe forget how awful and unstable the situation in the world was.

 _It's a bad sign_ , used to say some of the oldest people in the tribe, _oh no dear_ , _something is coming, one of these days._

No one listened, but old people knew.

That one day was Katara's eighth name day.

Sokka woke her up early that morning, rubbing snow on her cheek while he laughed; i _t's your name day, wake up_. She instantly straightened up after feeling the cold and punched her brother in the arm, but the smile didn't erase from his face; it didn't surprise her either, she knew the reason of his excitement.

For her brother, turning eight was an important event. _When someone turn eight in the water tribe, they teach them how to climb, hunt, fight, make weapons and fish with a lance_ , he used to tell her. Of course, Sokka also used to forget that that was only in case you were a boy. If you were a girl, it was way different, at the age of eight you were taught to sew, braid hair and cook. But Katara was an exception; she was also a waterbender, the last one of the southern water tribe so she spent most of her time trying to control her element. It wasn't an easy task considering she had no teacher or anyone to learn from, she was alone when it came to bending.

"Come with us today." Said Sokka during breakfast "Dad and me are going fishing so I thought you would like to join us."

"Really? Mom, can I join them too?" asked the girl looking at her mother with her puppy eyes making the woman laugh.

"Of course Katara" said Kya reassuring her daughter "Also try practicing your bending while you're out. Both of you, go and get ready, it also goes to you Hakoda." She told her husband. The man groaned playfully, making the woman laugh briefly and smack his head softly before kissing him.

Some minutes later, the two children and the adult were ready; Hakoda carried a big lance in one hand while Sokka carried a smaller one. _I'll lend it to you if you want to catch a fish,_ her brother had told her, _you don't need one though, you have your weird water magic._ Before they kept going, Kya stopped her daughter.

"Before you go, I need to give you something Katara." Said the woman. It wasn't a common thing to receive gifts in the southern water tribe, other than one new coat per year, a fruit basket or a weapon (if you were a boy). With one of her hands, Kya held her brown hair and with the other she took off her necklace carefully. "This is for you."

Katara looked at the beautiful piece of jewelry in awe, but immediately tried to argue.

"B-but, you love that necklace…" she knew how her mother took care of it and how her gran gran Kanna did before her, it had become an important familiar relic. She didn't feel right receiving it "Won't you miss it? I-I mean, I can wait until I'm older…"

Those words made the woman smile sweetly at her.

"I love that necklace, but not as much as I love you" said Kya caressing her daughter's wavy hair "Your gran gran gave it to me when I married your father, and now I'm giving it to you because I think you're ready to have it, please accept it Katara."

The little girl took it in her hands, now looking at it with pride. She hugged her mother tightly, thanking her. Kya turned her around to put the necklace on her neck.

"It's done, I'm sure you are going to take good care of it sweetie. Now hurry up, your brother is calling for you." Said the woman laughing, while she pointed at Sokka, who was calling for his sister in the distance.

Katara ran into his direction after hugging her mother again, her brother was waiting for her beside the sea, alone.

"Dad went to get a canoe and a bigger basket for the fish." he said when she asked where Hakoda was "You know? Fishing is better in summer, there are more fish."

"And there's less ice" added Katara looking at the sea, it looked bigger now that the icebergs have melted "The canoe has fewer possibilities to crash if you're the one who lead."

"Shut up." He said offended "I know how to drive a canoe perfectly fine, with icebergs on the way and without them."

The girl was going to reply and a discussion was going to start again but it was interrupted by their father, who was placing the canoe near them. Both children forgot instantly about their fight and walked towards Hakoda, who helped them to hop in. The trip was quite long, so Katara had plenty of time to practice her bending. Even if Sokka kept saying that her water magic had scared the fish away, by the end of the afternoon, the canoe was full of it. It had been a beneficial fishing, so they were returning home.

On the way back, Katara was the first one to realize something wasn't right.

"Why is the sky so gray." She asked looking up with curiosity "My face is covered in gray now." The girl added with annoyance rubbing hey nose when a dark colored snow flake landed on her face.

None of them answered. When the canoe reached iced land, Hakoda helped his children to get off, just like he did in the morning. Now not only the sky was gray, also the snow and the sea. He bent down and carefully touched the gray dust. His eyes opened in fear. It wasn't snow; it was soot. The man took both of his children in his arms and ran in the direction of their tribe. The soot falling from the sky was blinding his sight, but it didn't stop him, nothing would, he wanted to see the situation of his tribe, the situation of his wife. He ran; fast, like their life depended on him.

And maybe they did.

The burning tents were the first thing Katara spotted when they arrived to their tribe. There was fire everywhere, women and children screaming and men fighting. She remembered that one word gran gran had taught her; chaotic. That word was the exact description of what was happening, she thought, everything was so chaotic.

"Dad, what's happening?" asked Sokka before she could. He was in the verge of tears; his voice was shaky, full of fear, it was something new for both of them, an experience they would never want to repeat. Sadly, many more were coming.

"The fire nation" Hakoda answered looking at the chaos "They're attacking again... Sokka, I need you to take care of your sister and get away from here until everything is safe again. I have to join the fight. Promise Sokka"

The boy nodded deadly serious, tears sliding down his cheeks. He took his sister's hand and pulled her near, walking away from his father to find a place to hide. Only Katara turned around.

"Will mom be alright?" she asked loudly, but Hakoda was now too far from them to listen. Sokka held her hand tighter, giving her support; he was as worried as her.

The siblings went straight to an ice mount where they used to play and slide with the penguins during their free time, but now there were no penguins, it was deadly quiet. _Did the penguins know about the war? Which side would they take?_ Katara guessed, _probably ours_ , she wasn't sure about that but still thought it would be funny to see a penguin's army. She snapped out of her daydream feeling a little dumb, she shouldn't be getting distracted, not in a moment like that. The girl took a look at the ice mountain; it seemed like a good place to hide. The place was surrounded by bigger ice mountains so it was impossible to be spotted from the distance, she knew, she tried many times to find it from Sokka's control tower and failed each time.

"Sokka, what will happen with mom and gran gran?" asked Katara.

"Dad is going to save them." He answered, completely sure.

"Who's going to save Niyok and Nutha then?"

Family was a priority now, but Katara couldn't stop herself into thinking about her friends.

"This is crazy but I'm going to see if they're okay." He said with his voice shaking again, he was scared.

"I'll go with you then, they're my friends too."

"No, you'll stay here." Katara complained, it wasn't fair, she also wanted to help; but her brother stood firm in his decision "I swear I'm going to bring them back with me but please, you've to promise you'll stay here, I have to keep you safe, just like dad said."

The girl wanted to complain again, but the desperate look on his brother's face made her say otherwise. The boy smiled when she promised she wouldn't move, and promise he was going to be back soon. None of them kept their promises. When he was gone, she thought of following him but it would mean giving him more trouble. The girl just sat on the snow and closed her eyes. There was no way to deny it, she was tired, yet, she didn't want to fall asleep. She started counting to keep herself awake.

"1… 2… 3…"

Why was the fire nation attacking? From what she had heard from her gran gran Kanna, the last attack had happened a long time ago, almost thirty years. _Why now?_ She thought; they weren't even a threat compared to their armies. They had no advanced weapons, no big ships, and no bending.

"65… 66… 67…"

Well, they did have bending, an eight year old girl called Katara who couldn't fight or control her element decently. She could melt the snow, create little waves and levitate some water. But how was she supposed to turn an army down with that? Where was Sokka? She was getting nervous

"102… 103… 104…"

She heard someone's footsteps coming near. Was it Sokka? He had promised to bring Nutha and Niyok back with him so it couldn't be him; this stranger was alone. Katara opened her eyes and stood up from the snow prepared to run, but the stranger noticed her movements and held her down. The person covered her mouth with one hand and put the other arm around her neck, aiming to chock her, she could barely breathe with the pressure he put on her, and the air was quickly escaping from her lungs. She could see by the corner of her eye that her captor was an armored man, a fire nation soldier. Another man walked from behind the soldier holding her.

"I found a little girl, should I get rid of her, commander Yon Rha" asked the soldier a little uneasy. He was young; Katara realized when she heard his voice, this was probably his first time being part of a raid.

"I don't think so…" she barely heard the man say, the sounds were starting to sound muffled "You know how much noblemen love war trophies, specially exotic ones like her." The young soldier who held her lowered the pressure on her neck so she could breathe better, Katara appreciated that deeply. The commander bent in front of her, looking at her face intensely "She's a pretty one." He finally added "Put her to sleep, we're taking her, someone is definitely going to buy her as a servant or something else."

She looked at the young soldier nervous and confused, what did he meant by put her to sleep? He shot her an apologetic look before his knee collided with her stomach, making her fall unconscious.

When she opened her eyes, the young fire nation soldier was carrying her over his shoulder. Her body, specially her neck, now hurt like never before. But even now with this pain and her blurry vision, she could recognize the leftovers of her tribe. Gran gran's tent, like many others, had been burnt down to the ground. _Is our igloo destroyed too?,_ she thought concerned, trying to spot it in between the burning tents. When she finally did, a little smile formed on her face; their igloo was one of the few that were still standing and weren't destroyed completely.

Some hope built inside her, they would be able to sleep that night and even help some friends who lost their tents. But when the soldier walked near it, her smile faded and her hope was shattered. Something was wrong, there was smoke coming out from the inside with a weird smell. It smelled like burnt meat.

"No."

Commander Yon Rha walked out of her hut, carrying a body, and without any care, threw it on the snow like it was some garbage he wanted to get rid of. It was a woman's body. Most of her flesh was black, completely burnt and unrecognizable. Her legs or arm no longer looked like limbs, and the clothes were gone, probably became ashes during the attack. But her face; Katara could see her face, and oh, she recognized it too.

She didn't scream, no words would come out, but felt something broke inside of her. With absolute horror and desperation, she took one last look at the burnt corpse that she had once called mother before closing her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

First of all I want to thanks everyone who left a review on my first chapter, i'm glad you liked it so much, reviews are like fragments of happiness. Also, forgive me for all the grammar errors, english is not my mother tongue, I wish you understand :)

When Katara opened her eyes, she found herself lying on a futon in a small room of iron walls. Some worn and ragged sheets covered her small naked frame. She could feel her body weak, burning with fever and her vision was still blurred. Her old clothes were gone, she realized; she was wearing a light simple tunic and luckily still had her mother's necklace. When she tried to sit down, her entire body went stiff, making her let out a cry of pain, which also hurt her dry throat.

"She's awake!" she heard someone shout; she recognized the voice, it belonged to the young soldier who 'put her to sleep' in order to capture her, the sound of it made her shudder. "Bring some water and fire Lillie's milk, her throat must be dry as a bone by now."

The girl could feel her head spinning, and her eyes closing slowly, but she fought to keep them open, she couldn't let herself drift off to sleep again. The young soldier spoke again, but this time, the words were intended for her.

"Everyone thought you wouldn't wake up, you must be really tough. You've been unconscious for two days, can you believe it?"

She looked at the man with indifference and didn't bother to answer. Her tribe's destruction was their entire fault. She couldn't understand how this fire nation soldier had the nerve to even talk to her after everything he and the others had done. She wanted him gone. The girl heard the iron door opening again. It was a man, a very old man, probably a servant due to the ragged clothes he used and the scars on his arms. He was carrying two ceramic containers of different color, red and yellow.

"Give her some water first." ordered the young soldier.

The old servant quickly bent in front of her and brought the red ceramic container he was grabbing with his left hand to the level of her tiny mouth. As soon as the cold water touched her lips, she started to feel energy running through her body again. Her mouth and throat stopped feeling dry and her tensed muscles relaxed again. It only took her a minute to empty the container. With her renewed strength, Katara tried to sit straight again.

"Easy little one, you shouldn't be moving, you still need to rest," the soldier warned, looking at the girl in awe, was it possible to recover that fast from dehydration? "You still need to drink the fire lilies' milk."

"What is the fire lilies' milk."

Her voice came out a little rasped. Even though she did not want to talk to him, she still had the curiosity of an eight year old, she couldn't stay quiet for too long.

"Don't worry child, it won't hurt you." said the elder trying to calm her down "It will make you feel better, but also sleepy."

Katara decided to trust the old servant, who was now offering her the yellow ceramic container, they already shared something in common after all; being captured by the fire nation maybe. She took the other container in her hands and drank the entire liquid. The fire lilies' milk may indeed look like milk but it smelled like wild flowers and tasted like rotten fruit juice, the combination nearly made her throw up. The moment she leaned back into the futon, the anesthetic started making effect and before the old servant or the young soldier left the room, Katara closed her eyes again.

Three days passed until she could walk again without falling like an otter penguin, and then other three until she was allowed to leave the iron room. Her old clothes were long gone and now they were replaced by light green tunics. Her mother's necklace never left her neck. She grew very protective around it, to the point to bite the young soldier's hand when he tried to touch it.

On the southern water tribe, Katara didn't know what being out of place meant or felt like. Aboard the ship it was a different story; there were no women or children, just armored men and earth kingdom prisoners working as servants. It didn't take her too long to realize how different she looked from the fire nation people. She had never seen such a pale skin tone in her life, neither amber colored eyes. Her dark skin and blue eyes were something rare and even charming.

One thing the girl never forgot about her time in the ship, was the time itself. The trip was long, way too long for a young child. Where they were going and when was the journey ending were a mystery to the little waterbender, questions with no answers. She had no one to ask but the old earth kingdom servant who took care of her, sadly he knew just as much as her. She could just ask the young fire nation soldier, but her pride kept her from talking to him more than necessary.

When Katara found herself walking on the deck, she often thought of jumping off the ship. She was a waterbender, water was her element, drowning was not even a possibility. But where would she go? She didn't even know if they were near solid ground. Even if she reached the coast, her tribe was too far away, how she was supposed to reach it. These thoughts invaded her head not only on deck but also on bed, late at night when she was alone. At those hours, when tears covered her eyes, Katara would touch her necklace and cry over her family in silence.

"Zhao's ship is here," announced one lieutenant to Yon Rha after boarding the ship "He would like to have a meeting with you to know how the raids went."

Yon Rha lifted his gaze from the map he was reading with some interest.

"Well, then go and tell him I'll be here waiting for him. Don't forget to mention our little war trophy, I'm sure he may be… interested."

Some hours later, captain Zhao came on board followed by two lieutenants. He immediately greeted the commander with respect before following him to one of the biggest rooms in the ship.

"Commander Yon Rha," started the captain once they were sitting in the big room, which was of course, the commander's chamber "I heard you were successful in the southern water raids."

"It just went according to my plan." Answered the commander paying no mind to his own words "The tribe's men tried to put on a fight with their useless weapons but we all knew how it was going to end, it was just a matter of time." He laughed "I found the waterbender hiding in one of the igloos, a fucking coward she was, you should have seen her expression when I told her I wasn't taking any prisoners."

"Then it's true what they say about the savages from the water tribes, they won't give up even if they know their battle is lost."

"And it's also true what they say about their women. One of my soldiers captured a young one."

Zhao's eyes lighted up with interest.

"Keep talking."

"She's a pretty one; dark skin tone, curly hair, beautiful blue eyes; she's not older than eight I think." He knew captain Zhao, that included his unusual liking for young girls "Her price isn't set yet."

"Actually, I would like to see her first."

The commander smirked as he sent a servant to bring the girl. It didn't take the servants too long to do their job, minutes later the little girl's head and her wavy brunette mane were peeking curiously through the slightly opened iron door.

"Come inside." Ordered the commander

Her gaze wandered from the commander to the captain suspiciously but she did as she was told. The child stood in the center of the room, looking down at her bare feet avoiding their eyes, the stranger was looking at her intently; she could feel it and it made her nervous and uncomfortable.

"So what do you think, pretty, isn't she?"

Zhao didn't answer; he just stood up and walked towards the little girl, bending down in front of her.

"What's your name?"

His voice was demanding but she kept looking down, her eyes refusing to meet his. But he wasn't a patient man. Using his index finger and his thumb, he held her chin and tilted her head back, roughly, making her wince in pain.

"I asked what your name is. When someone asks you a question, you are supposed to answer little one."

His grip tightened on her chin and she spoke this time, her voice faltering and shaking.

"I'm Katara, f-from the southern water tribe..." she was at the verge of tears "Let go of my chin… please."

He did, but grabbed her hand and held it tightly before she could ran away to her own room.

"I'm buying her." He said, completely decided, walking towards Yon Rha and dragging the small girl with him "Someone has to teach this little peasant some manners."

His words pleased Yon Rha, who instantly brought up her prize in the discussion.

Back in her tribe, she had never heard the terms "prize" or "coins". She didn't understand how economy worked, but what she did understand was that in the fire nation, her life was worth twenty five golden pieces. She wasn't a girl anymore, she realized, she was an object. An object that now belonged to a captain named Zhao


	3. Chapter 3

Katara never thought it would be possible to fear and hate someone at the same time but beside her was the living proof of its existence. She never imagined that she would be so scared of making mistakes until she was bought by Zhao. At one point, she even started missing Yon Rha's ship, the young soldier and the old servant; at least they would let her walk freely on deck and treat her decently. Zhao wouldn't. Even staying away from him wasn't even a possibility because he liked keeping her close.

The captain sometimes would be nice with her whenever he was in good mood; he would let her out of her room or let her eat from his meals if her own hadn't been enough; but he almost never was, and that was a problem. Beatings became part of her days on Zhao's ship. She would be repeatedly slapped and shoved to the floor by any small mistake like dropping a cup or talking back to the captain, or like he ordered her to call him, her guardian.

Her guardian, Katara used to think bitterly, he wasn't her guardian. This man was her master; she wasn't being guarded, she was being owned.

The captain was indeed cruel and violent, but it wasn't what scared her the most, it was his weird behavior around her; a behavior that made her feel uncomfortable and anxious every time she found herself near him. Zhao was a strange man, that's how she would describe him, the kind of man her parents warned her to stay away from.

He often offered her to bath her, sit on his lap or sleep on his bed.

She immediately refused of course, saying she needed no help and he would just snort in frustration. But oh, it would be different if he was having a bad day, saying no was a mistake. That word would wake the dark spirits who possibly lived inside of him and make them take all their fury out on her. Yes, she would end up with bruises in her body and wounds on her lips, but he would leave her alone and stop insisting afterwards.

Very late at night, she wouldn't cry herself to sleep, not anymore. Instead, she would hold her mother's necklace in her hands and repeat the name of both men who took her old life away and made her experience pure hatred for the first time until she fell asleep.

"Yon Rha… Zhao… Yon Rha… Zhao…"

An entire month passed until she was able to set her feet on land and life on Zhao's ship had become in simple words, miserable

Katara was locked in her room again. The young girl realized with shame that she had got used to the pain caused by the captain's beatings faster than the loneliness she felt from being locked all day. She could do absolutely nothing; she was only allowed to leave the room to go to the bathroom and whenever the captain required her presence. She didn't expect the door to suddenly burst open so a small yelp came out from her lips. It was captain Zhao who had opened the iron door.

"Listen now, I want you to behave." he said, walking towards her. When he reached the girl, he grabbed her by the chin and tilted her head back; it had become a habit to him doing that everytime he talked to Katara. "I'm having an important meeting in the fire nation, there'll be high ranked people from the army. I may even get promoted to commander." His grip tightened and his voice became harder "You are coming too you ungrateful little one, so I don't want you to spoil it and start weeping like you do aboard."

The girl tried looking him in the eye but his grip kept her from doing so.

"I won't cry, and I don't cry aboard." She wanted to sound defiant, just like her brother would have tried to, but her fear to this man wouldn't let her "Why don't you leave me here then, sir?"

"Well we'll about that, and absolutely not, leave you here? So you can try to escape like the last time, no fucking way. Besides, you know what will happen if you misbehave, don't you?"

"You will beat me up until my body becomes bloody and is not able to move." The girl said, repeating the words he used to threaten her "Yes, I know."

"Good" the captain finally released her "Now get ready, change those filthy clothes and put these formal ones on, I need to cause a good impression and I won't cause one if people find out that you're from the tribes. I'll be outside your room until you're ready." Katara didn't answer or look up when he threw some red clothes beside her, she just kept ignoring him "You'll keep ignoring me? That's alright, alright… unless you want me to stay and dress you up…"

"No! No, there's no need for that" she immediately refused, feeling uncomfortable again "I can do it alone."

And for the first time, Zhao left without a word, leaving the girl sighing in relief.

It was the first time she wore enemy red. Fire nation dresser could look prettier than formal water tribe clothes but were indeed more uncomfortable.

Outside the ship, a saddled komodo rhino and a group of six fire nation soldiers were waiting for the captain and the little one to set off. The captain mounted the animal after helping Katara, lifting her by the waist. For her, this was another experience to add to the list of "never again in a million years". Even sitting on the older firebender's lap, she could still feel the komodo rhino's scales scraping her thigh. The way wasn't too long, but it was enough for bruises to appear in her sensitive skin so when they reached their destination and she was helped to dismount the animal.

She had had many first times during this journey, she thought once she settled her feet on solid ground. First time away from her tribe, first time on a boat, first time being sold and first time riding an animal.

Oh wait, also first time purple marks adorned my entire body after being beaten up.

The meeting was taking place in a palace, not the royal, Zhao had told her, the royal was way bigger than that.

"It's gigantic!" she exclaimed in awe when she saw it.

"What do you know about palaces? From what I recall, there were only tents in your dead tribe, stupid little one." He mocked her, pulling her ear, which made the girl wince "You will stay by my side, is it clear? All night, I don't care how tired you are, disappear from my sight once and I swear, you will wish you had been killed during the raids."

Katara didn't reply, he was awful and she hated him for that, but what could she do? She was barely eight years old and her bending skills weren't the best while he was an adult skilled firebender and a renowned captain in the Fire Nation army. One day, she thought bitterly as he grabbed her left wrist tightly, one day you'll regret all of this.

If she thought the outside of the castle was big, the insides left her speechless. Many large tables over-brimmed with expensive silverware, golden plates and exotic foods that she couldn't even recognize. Torches covered the main hall's walls while red and blue fires consumed those. She started panicking. Fire nation people were all over the place, drinking, talking and laughing; there was nothing funny, why were these men laughing? The palace began moving fast, spinning endlessly around the desperate girl. Red was absolutely everywhere, on the walls, on the tables and the people's clothes. She wanted to close her eyes so badly and calm down but she couldn't, the captain was determined to drag her inside while ignoring her low pleads.

Seconds later the waterbender was struck with her first panic attack; she began to struggle violently against his grip, but it tightened more around her wrist. But she was determined to get away. Without warning, Katara dug her teeth in Zhao's arm and didn't let go until he finally shoved her away. She didn't even turn around to see how her "protector" was doing; she could already feel the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. The girl kept running, avoiding men at all cost. Where the exit was? The tall figures of the Fire Nation citizens, making her feel completely lost. No, I'm completely lost.

Feeling defeated, Katara walked slowly to the nearest corner in the great hall, frightened. Captain Zhao would be mad by now, she realized in shame, and he was going to fulfill his promise of beating her up. The anxiety that invaded her after those thoughts was so big that she was afraid she was going to suffer another panic attack.

"Don't cry Katara, don't even cry." she told herself but it was helpless, tears were already forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Are you lost little girl?" the waterbender looked up startled, ready to run away "I also think this party is boring but there's no need to be so sad" it was a bearded man who was talking. He looked like a nice person in her opinion. His bright eyes made her crack a little smile through her tears "But I don't think that's the reason of your sadness, why are you crying child?"

Katara wiped her tears rolling down her cheeks away before replying shyly.

"I got lost, uh… sir."

The nice man laughed heartily after hearing the word.

"Sir? You can call me Iroh if you please" his smile widened as she immediately decided she liked this old man "Do you have a name or should I keep calling you child?"

She finally giggled, forgetting what the cause of her anguish was in first place.

"I don't mind giving you my name, you can call me-"

"KATARA!"

And again, her body tensed and her eyes looked around terrified looking for the owner of that known voice. She did it, she had made him mad. The girl felt the need to hide behind the bearded man. Her hand, unconsciously, held tightly the sleeve of his tunic, looking at him for support. Zhao was walking towards her, with a bloody wound on his arm and rage transforming every feature of his face. But suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and tried to relax his expressions.

"G-General Iroh, what a surprise to meet you." He greeted, bowing briefly "I see you've already met Katara."

"Yes, I have already met her." Said Iroh, looking at him severely "But answer me this, what in the four nations are you doing with this little girl?"

"Well, she was an orphan from the southern water tribe, Yon Rha found her during the raids." He answered politely "He was selling her as a slave and I felt the obligation to help her."

The general laughed in disbelief.

"I know you well Zhao, don't try to fool me" he pointed to the little girl with his index finger "I'm completely aware of what you plan doing with this little girl."

"Wh-What are you even talking about?"

"I'm talking about your disgusting desires, no child should be allowed near you and this one won't be an exception just because you bought her."

Captain Zhao forced a smile, Iroh frowned and Katara waited, never leaving the bearded man sleeve.

"What are you going to do then, take her away from me? I'm sorry to tell you that anyone is allowed to own war prisoners, general Iroh, keep your ethics to yourself."

"Then it would be a shame if your secret started spreading, wouldn't it? And with that, the older man won the fight "I'm a general, Zhao, remember that, I can get you expelled from the army anytime."

The captain let a defeated growl.

"What do you propose, raising her as you own? Don't make me laugh…"

"You read my mind perfectly sometimes Zhao." Replied the other man sarcastically "Leave right now, you don't want me to start talking, don't you?"

He looked at Iroh with absolute hate and then, he turned to face Katara; extending his hand to grab her chin, but it was swatted away by the general before it could reach her "I thought I said leave NOW."

And suddenly, to the eyes of Katara, Zhao became somehow smaller and weaker. Her eyes found the beard man's ones in disbelief and astonishment.

"Do you want to leave now? This party is really boring." He said smiling again, as if nothing had just happened.

"Do I really won't have to go back to Zhao's ship ever again?"

The old man patted the girl's head as he led her to the palace's main door.

"No, you won't have to," he finally replied once they were outside "Let's go home, alright?"

"Alright"

Thanks for all the reviews, really, they encourage me to keep writing

I love you all people, next chapter comes out next week and little Zuko will finally appear :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Again, thanks to everyone for all of yours reviews, you're all amazing really.**

 **I also want to clear up that I had some trouble with the storyline (I didn't remember the chronological order of many events), so I changed some things. In this fanfic Lu Ten is already dead and the siege of Ba Sing Se happened some months before Katara was captured by Yon Rha. So yeah, basically, sorry for not re watching the series before I started writing this and for updating so late.**

 **I still wish you like this chapter, please keep reviewing, it really motivates me :)**

_(x)_

The footsteps of a kid running echoed in the corridors of the palace. But that young kid wasn't just a young kid, he was from the Fire Nation's royal family. Zuko, or how everyone called him, prince Zuko couldn't contain his evident joy, not that day at least. _Today is the day_ , he thought, _uncle Iroh is already here_.

Ursa, his mother had told his sister and him during breakfast that his uncle arrived very late the night before while they were sleeping, so he couldn't greet them properly. The princess made a malicious comment of how their uncle's fat prevented him from saying _hi_ , but Ursa immediately repressed her behavior while the prince just ignored it. He wasn't mad at his uncle for not greeting him, he had been sleeping anyways, besides, Iroh was an important general and had many duties that kept him busy, it wasn't his fault.

When the young fire bender finally reached Iroh's room's door, he knocked. But instead of his uncle, it was a young girl who opened the door. She was certainly younger than him, probably by two years or three. _She is Azula's age_. She also looked different from him or any other person from the fire nation. Maybe it was because of her dark skin tone or her long wavy hair brunet hair. _No,_ he realized, _it's her eyes._ Yes, it were her eyes what astonished him the most, their color was something he had never seen before, just breathtaking. _They are blue, just like the ocean_. Prince Zuko even found himself looking into her eyes intently.

"What are you staring at" asked the no more, quiet girl after so many silence, looking at him with distrust. Her voice made him snap out from his thinking making him realize how awkward the situation was. He quickly recovered his composure and tried to look solemn and respectable.

"Who are you?"

The girl raised an eyebrow, amused by his arrogant tone.

"No, who are you?"

"I asked you first!" the boy replied bothered, _how dare her._

"I asked you second."

"It doesn't works that way!"

"Who even care?"

She rolled her eyes, annoying him even more. Maybe it was the time to introduce himself.

"Well, i'm part of the royal family, grandson of the firelord Azulon and son of the heir to the throne, Ozai; I'm the prince Zuko."

When servants and even noblemen discovered who he was, they usually bowed to him, apologizing themselves for whatever they had done; he definitely didn't expect her to react any other way. The girl looked up to him in surprise and then, she started laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked, the annoyance never leaving his voice.

"Nothing, really," she said, trying to get serious again but it was impossible, some giggles still escaped from her lips "It's just, you don't look like a prince."

How dare her.

"How dare you, I'll tell uncle Iroh his servant talked back to me, and you won't like the consequences…"

"Oh, so you're the old man's nephew…" the girl realized, looking at him from head to toes in disbelief "He forgot to mention you were so whiny."

How dare her!

"Y-you really are a peasant, how dare-"

"Oh shush, come in." she cut the prince, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him inside the room "Old man Iroh will be back soon, well, he's supposed to, I guess you can wait here, you're his nephew anyways." She closed the door behind them before turning to face the boy again "And, by the way, I'm not her servant."

The boy blushed at her proximity, he was not used to being touched by other kids or even interacting with them; specially girls.

"I-it doesn't matters if I'm his nephew or not, I can wait wherever I want, I'm the prince." He replied defensively, using his arrogant tone again "If you're not a servant then, what are you?"

"Oh, begging your pardon young prince." She sarcastically answered "Look, I'm just a girl and not a komodo rhino, there's no need to get all defensive."

He just nodded and looked away, focusing in the walls of the spacious room. In his entire short life he has only met three children; his sister Azula, Mai and Tai Lee and he avoided the trio at all cost. The young prince didn't go to an academy like his sister did, teachers visited the palace to instruct him so he didn't formerly had any friends. This was his first time being in a room alone with a child, or even worse, he thought, a girl.

"You still haven't told me your name."

She looked at him, thinking whether she should tell him or not.

"I'm Katara" the girl finally said "Just Katara."

Both children stayed quiet some seconds.

"What a weird name…"

"Says the one named Zuko."

"Hey! Say something like that again and-"

"Oh, I was sure you were going to say how dare you."

"I swear I'm going to-"

The sound of the door opening interrupted the kids, who immediately ended their important discussion. Entering the room was Iroh, smiling as always.

"I see you two have already met. I was thinking on introducing you two this afternoon."

"Uncle Iroh!" exclaimed the boy in excitement, hugging the older man "I really missed you."

"I missed you too my nephew" the general replied after letting Zuko go "This is Katara, but you probably know your names already. She'll be staying here."

"Wait, so she'll be living here? Firever?" the young fire bender asked, not expecting that at all "And if she isn't your servant, how did you two met?"

"It's a long story." Replied Katara before Iroh could "Maybe one day."

He nodded.

"We started with the left foot, so, uh…" his nephew's awkwardness caused Iroh to laugh. If she was staying for a long time, Zuko didn't want her against him "Just, let's try to get a long, alright?"

She was in her right to refuse, he was the one who acted like an unmannered peasant. _I screwed up, didn't I?_

But Katara, to his more pleasant surprise, smiled.

"Alright"

And that's how the fire nation prince and a water bender became friends.

(x)

Katara met princess Azula some days after meeting the prince, one week to be precise. Iroh and Zuko showed her around during that period; the places where she could go and the others where she couldn't. She also defined her favorite place, the royal palace's gardens. The place didn't remind her of home, not at all, but it was still beautiful and calm. There was a large pond in the middle and beside it, an old fig tree. Katara would spend a lot of time sitting there, all day if she could. The prince joined her sometimes and they would end up talking or making up stories for fun. And that was one of those days.

"That's how I nearly died drowned." The prince lied, making the girl snort in disbelief "What? It's true, I somehow managed to escape from the tide."

"When you were five years old? No you didn't."

He tried to hide the smile forming on his lips as he saw her frown.

"I swear, I guess I'm a good swimmer."

"That's pretty stupid, come on, just accept you are ly-"

"Zu-zu, how nice to see you here." Interrupted a third unexpected voice behind the woterbender "Who is that friend of yours?"

She couldn't see her but it was pretty obvious it was a female who was talking. The fact that she was using a mocking tone annoyed her but the fact that she called her whiny proud friend _Zu-zu_ amused her even more. Katara turned around to face the owner of the voice for the first time and was very surprised when she saw a girl her age but her gestures and expressions gave her a more mature air. Her eyes pierced hers with an air of superiority; just like whiny prince Zuko, she instantly thought. She was accompanied by other two girls who were also looking at her, the taller one with contempt and the shorter one with curiosity, almost like she was an exotic animal, almost like she was an exotic animal.

"Well… who are all of you?" asked Katara confused, she thought the prince and her were the only children in the palace.

"Watch your tongue peasant." Replied the girl with the mocking voice. It wasn't a threat but a warning "Is that a way to talk to the princess?"

"Another one?"

That didn't amuse Zuko at all, but the princess lost her role and laughed.

"Don't say that, you idiot, I'm a prince, not a princess" he whispered in Katara's ear, his good humor now gone.

"Not sorry." She replied, shrugging.

"Anyways, what are you doing with your group here, Azula? Leave us alone."

The princess faked a hurt look.

"Aw Zu-zu, how mean, you're going to leave us behind because you've got a girlfriend?"

"Sh-she's not my girlfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

The reaction was instant and made Azula smirk.

"Well, the fact that you met her first doesn't give you the right to keep her away from the rest of the world, does it?"

"Tch, do whatever you want" he said resigned, turning his head to face his closest friend "Katara, this is my sister Azula."

Sure, they both looked indeed very similar, same dark hair, pale skin and sharp golden eyes. But the similarities stopped there, and she was glad they did.

"You're actually cute, how are your eyes blue?" asked the shorter girl

"Eeh…"

"You can't ask someone how their eyes are blue, Ty Lee" the tall girl said with a bored expression and a monotone voice "She was just born like that."

"Woah Mai, you can actually talk, amazing." Azula faked surprise, making Ty Lee and the waterbender laugh, her brother just rolled his eyes.

Even with their noticeable flaws, the girls didn't seem that bad to Katara as they seemed to Zuko _. But what I can expect_ _of him, after he threatened me for joking_ , she thought, remembering amused how she was greeted when he first met her. But she enjoyed their presence.

Firebenders, of all things. Was it funny? More like an ironic joke, but no, it wasn't funny. Iroh would find it funny… but probably in another context. Maybe she was thinking too much.

"Yes, I am thinking too much." She whispered to herself as she lied down behind the prince.


End file.
